Transcript Child Trafficking, the Problem and how we can COMBAT it
Child Trafficking, the Problem and how we can ‘COMBAT’ it
…in Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull Sue Gwyer - CSWP COMB
AT
Engagement Specialist
Human Trafficking the context …
“Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation , transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person exploitation.
for the purpose of Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”
Protocol to the 2000 UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime – ‘Palermo Protocol’
The Problem…
• UNGIFT { United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking } estimates that there are 2.5 million people in forced labour (including sexual exploitation) at any given time worldwide as a direct result of • 18.8% of this number are estimated to be in industrialised countries and countries in transition • In emerging democracies and post-conflict states across Europe, the convergence of corruption of officialdom and emergence of organised crime [alongside the implementation of the Schengen agreement ] has provided fertile ground for the growth in human trafficking • Trafficking – modern day slavery and public health – occurs both within and across
The Trafficking of Children
UNGIFT – United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking
•
An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year worldwide
•
95% of victims experience physical or sexual violence
•
43% of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation
98% of this number are women and children
•
32% are used for forced economic exploitation
56% of this number are women and children
Child Trafficking in the UK
•
CEOP recorded 325 children trafficked into the UK between March ‘07 and Feb ’08 – of these approx. 180 went missing from Local Authority care
•
In 2008-09 ‘Operation Glover’, directed against the internal trafficking of teenage girls for sexual exploitation, rescued 33 trafficking victims
‘Operation Golf’
In 2010 ‘Operation Golf’ picked up 103 Roma children from 13 addresses in East London. 52 adults were arrested. This trafficking ring was operating from one town in Romania.
Between 01.04.09 and 31.03.11 the UKHTC received 1481 referrals – 390 of which were minors
But why are people trafficked?
For what purpose?
In the UK children are trafficked for:
ECPAT – End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes • • • • • • • • • • Sexual exploitation Domestic servitude Forced labour (including restaurant and catering work) Cultivation of cannabis Drug trafficking Begging & Petty theft Blood rituals Benefit fraud Selling counterfeit goods such as DVD’s Illegal adoption / private fostering
In the UK…
[ECPAT] • • There is no current evidence that children are being trafficked into the UK for organ removal although there are documented cases elsewhere in the world including both East and West Europe • But why is trafficking possible? What do you think makes ‘some’ people more vulnerable to trafficking –
• • • • • • • • •
Poverty
– the root cause of vulnerability to exploitation
Lack of education Discrimination Cultural attitudes Grooming
– attendance at school has been a key means of protecting children from all forms of exploitation – this can be based on gender and ethnicity – traditional cultural attitudes can mean that some children are more vulnerable to trafficking than others – children are sometimes trafficked out of their country of origin after having been groomed for purposes of sexual exploitation
Dysfunctional families
– children may choose to leave home as a result of domestic abuse and neglect or they may be forced to leave home for a number of reasons
Political conflict and economic transition
of large numbers of people and the erosion of economic and social protection mechanisms
Natural disasters
– often lead to movements – Earthquakes, Tsunami’s etc – displacement leads to separated children and vulnerable adults
Inadequate local laws and regulations
– trafficking involves many different events and processes and legislation in some countries has been slow to keep pace. Even where there is appropriate legislation enforcement is often hampered by lack of prioritisation, corruption and ignorance of the law
“A barbaric trade in human misery right on our doorsteps”
–
Grahame Maxwell - UKHTC "One of the first victims we helped in the UK was a 15 year-old Lithuanian girl who found herself in Sheffield where she managed to escape her trafficker and turned up at a police station.
Her case shows how unsuspecting young victims are lured from their homes into a nightmare world of brutality and rape.
was a good opportunity, approved the trip.
trafficker to another for £3,000.
S
he was phoned up by someone and asked if she would like to sell ice cream for the summer in London and was told she would earn about £300.
The traffickers signed a consent form and her parents, believing it She was flown to Gatwick and sold in a coffee shop from one Her passport was taken off her and sold for £4,000. Later the same night, she was taken to a flat brutalised and raped, and from that moment on she was forced to act as a prostitute.”
The girl was sold six times in six different cities in the UK before finally escaping and helping the police catch her traffickers.
A young Chinese woman, forced into domestic servitude in a UK takeaway restaurant, was confined to live in this outhouse
This was her bed – the post mortem on her body indicated that she had died of hypothermia. There was evidence of severe physical abuse on her body
‘Domestic Servitude’
(
S.71 Coroners & Justice Act 2009)
Holding another person in slavery or servitude or requiring another person to perform forced or compulsory labour.
The circumstances must be such that the defendant knows or ought to know that the person is being so held, or required to perform such labour.
The offence applies to legal persons e.g. Companies as it applies to natural persons.
The Traffickers...
• 52% of traffickers are men, 42% are women and 6% work in joint enterprise • In 54% of cases recruiters are strangers to victims whilst 46% of victims know their recruiters • The global annual profit made from the exploitation of all trafficked forced labour is conservatively estimated to be US$31.6 Billion {UNGIFT} •
This illicit commercialisation of humanity is the fastest growing global crime and is today one of the largest criminal industries in the world second only to the trade in arms
The 21
st
Century Slave Trade
•
“Human trafficking is a crime that demeans the value
UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking - CHP 2 •
“There are more slaves in the world today than were seized from Africa in the four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade”
‘Free the Slaves’ – Kevin Bales
• “The trafficking of women and children is an
egregious violation of human rights
”
Anti-Slavery International •
“ Anyone can report suspected trafficking – as a public service professional it is your duty
Geoff Feavyour – Chief Constable - Leicestershire Police
How do we COMBAT Human Trafficking?
• Countries of origin, transit and destination share a mutual interest and responsibility in combating human trafficking we must work across borders • Human trafficking has a destabilising effect on democratic institutions, the rule of law and respect for human rights BUT… • •
“Liberation is not just about knocking down doors and dragging people to freedom. Permanent freedom requires survivors to ‘own’ their freedom and to change the systems that support
slavery” – trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com
All agencies agree that initiatives designed to combat human trafficking have to concentrate on the three P’s:
Prevention, Protection and Prosecution
• • •
Prevention…
In the year 2000 the United Nations adopted the ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children The Palermo Protocol entered into force on 25 th been signed and ratified June 2010 December 2003 and had by 117 countries worldwide, including the UK, by CET 197 – The Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings [Warsaw 2005] entered into force on 1 st February 2008 and had been signed and ratified by 34 European countries, including the UK, by st • • • The UK Government directed SOCA [Serious and Organised Crime Agency] to take governance of the UK’s anti-trafficking strategy In October 2006 SOCA launched the UKHTC [United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre] as a multi-agency decision making body with responsibility for enforcing the
UK Action plan on Tackling Human Trafficking
The UK Action Plan tasks the public, private and voluntary sectors to
work together
in a co-ordinated and directed manner to human beings
combat
the trafficking of
•
Prevention > Protection…
Much work has been done over the last decade, since Palermo, to get legislation in place worldwide to back the fight against human • It is now key that all agencies involved in the safeguarding of children and young people adopt best practice regards dealing with ‘trafficking situations’ to ensure compliance with both the UN & UK Action Plan • Both safeguarding & non-safeguarding professionals, who may come across victims of trafficking in their everyday working lives are specifically the addendum publication
‘Safeguarding Children Who May Have Been Trafficked’
• Professionals working in the children’’s workforce should familiarise themselves with the LSCB’s (
www.londonscb.gov.uk
)
‘Trafficked Children Toolkit’
now accepted by the UKHTC as the most appropriate guidance and assessment matrix for identifying victims of human trafficking -
Protection > Prosecution…
• • • • • The UKHTC is the nominated ‘Competent Authority’ (along with the UKBA). They have responsibility for making decisions as to whether a referred person is a victim of trafficking Any First Responder that wishes to refer a potential victim of human a standard referral form First Responders are the only people entitled to fill out this form and currently they are; Police, UK Border Agency (UKBA), Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Local Authorities / Social Services, Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) plus a range of NGO’s and charities working with victims of trafficking The Competent Authority assesses whether there is ‘reasonable’ or ‘conclusive’ grounds to decide if a referred person is indeed a victim of trafficking. Victims are given a 45 day reflection period (extendable) to decide whether they wish to pursue prosecution and / or be repatriated
•
Prosecution…
In 2006 there were just 5,808 prosecutions and 3,160 convictions
throughout the world
for human trafficking • Put into perspective, this means that for every 800 people trafficked just one person was convicted in 2006 • In the UK between 2006 and 2010 109 people were sentenced for trafficking offences receiving an average custodial sentence of 4yrs 2mths • • This is organised crime on a global scale and if we are to tackle it we need to be equally well organised in our strategies and responses to this ‘
egregious violation of human rights’
• There are no black and white answers to tackling trafficking – we need to look at a multi-agency 3P approach differentiated according to the needs of each individual situation
The Human Trafficking Venn:
Prevention
•Education – tailored packages for professionals and non - professionals •Cross border cooperation – countries of origin, transit & destination •Campaigning – ASI, Stop the Traffik, ECPAT, MTV Exit, Blue Blindfold, ATA, Unchosen, Unseen, CROP, Just Whistle… •Social Cohesion – involve communities •Reduce demand
Protection Multi-Agency Prosecution
•Improve victim identification •Support victim service development & provision •Enshrine rights-based approach in policies & programme planning •Engage public, private and voluntary sectors •DO NOT RE-VICTIMISE •Liaise over necessary use of CP procedures •Enact Palermo / simplify laws •Collaborate with law enforcement agencies: Police / UKBA / IA •Confiscation Orders / tougher sentencing •Share intelligence: UKHTC / CEOP / Crimestoppers •Use contacts and intelligence in custodial estate – work with perpetrators?
•Collaborate with & use SOCA & UNODC